Hello 2018 - new year, new (and old) goals

Monday, January 15, 2018

Happy New Year lovelies!!! 2018. wow.What does this year hold for you?Some people say resolutions are cliche and act like they're too cool for school when it comes to setting goals for the coming year. Here's the thing though, it doesn't matter when you're setting goals and intentions, just that you are.So whether you hop on the resolution train in January or you're doing it every month or whenever, go you! That's amazing and I wish you all the success in the world (but know, you're going to have to work for it!)I am guilty of setting goals or intentions and then letting them fall by the wayside. January is always a lofty goal month for me. Last year I even wrote down a plan for the year. WHAT?! Ya, my gf and I did a planning day to set our goals for 2018... then I got pregnant (which wasn't exactly in the 2017 plan) and I got so thrown off track. Turns out it was the best "accomplishment" of 2017 and completed our not-so-little family but I totally let this surprise derail me.I let a lot of my goals get lost and I think I need to pick them back up BUT I need to also show myself a little grace because, I have learned, that doing and being all of the things and trying to do so perfectly, results in this momma being super stressed and unhealthy and that's kind of the opposite of what I'm going for here.Again, I'm going to share some of my goals here to both keep me accountable, serve as a concrete reminder AND hopefully provide some inspiration to someone else who might feel stuck :)Word of the year: Embrace

Update: didn't figure it out. Still figuring it out. I think this needs to be kept as a goal but with less focus on "figuring it all out". I want to keep blogging but recognize I may not get to an "end place" of what I want this blog to look like and I'm cool with that.

Write/create 1 hour a week

Update: negative. We'll keep this one too.

Exercise 4 times a week.

Update: I am happy to report I feel like I killed this one!! I worked out 4-6 times a week until I was about 34 weeks pregnant. This resulted in a pretty healthy pregnancy and in this momma getting back to her pre-baby weight in record time. Sadly, I haven't exactly hopped back on the workout train. Okay, I'm nowhere near the station. I need to have exercise as a goal but I'm not giving myself a number because the real number is 3, the number of kids I now have which results in the inability to schedule virtually anything, including exercise. Goal: exercise.

More positive self-talk.

Update: Hmmmm this is one that should probably just be a standing item lol. Especially with 3 kiddos, I need to be more intentional about being kind to myself. I'll be referring back to my affirmations for moms and making a conscious effort to battle my negative self-talk. I'm focusing HARD on this one this year, stay tuned for more on that :)

Get a massage once a month.

Update: didn't happen. I went a few times but definitely not once a month. I like massages and would like to get more (thank goodness for good benefits) but picking a number is unrealistic for me and I feel like I'm setting myself up for failure. I hope to have more massages this year but I'm not making it a goal.

Meeting up with my blog friends.

Update: it happened and it was AWESOME. We'll be meeting up AGAIN this year!!! WOOT!! So Blog meet up added for 2018 - yay!

Update: didn't happen. I would LOVE to add this to 2018 but if I'm being realistic, we now have 3 kids under 5 and who the heck is going to volunteer for that kind of craziness?! lol Maybe 2019?

Meditate once a week.

Update: didn't happen. I did meditate a bit in early 2017 but not once a week. I'm keeping this for 2018 and I think I need to put a reminder in my phone so that I make sure I do it.

Night out once a month.

Update: HA!!!! I didn't exactly knock it out of the park with this one, but I did get out more than I normally would have an with baby #3 I've already had a few kid-free dinners with friends, shopping trips etc. I'm changing this goal to read: more me-time. Me-time for me can mean some self-indulgence (mani, pedi anyone?!) but also time with my girls to recharge or even an intentional hot bath (with the bathroom door locked, obviously).

Date once a month.

Update: HARD FAIL. I think we maybe went on 3 or 4 dates in 2017. We MUST get better at this. The tricky thing is, it's next to impossible to find time right now. For 2018 I think we need to work on ways to stay connected while parenting 3 small children. We may not get out of the house together once a month but will to be more deliberate about the time we have together, even if it's just after the kids are in bed (ya know, assuming all three kids sleep at the same time lol).

One-on-one time with each child once a month.

Update: I think I did pretty good at this one. I don't and haven't kept track, but I know I have spent intentional time with each kiddo on their own. This is something Mr. B and I just do, so I don't think I need to keep it as a goal for 2018 because it's kind of just how we roll around here.

Less frivolous spending.

Update: Definitely improvements in this area. Woohoo! It helped I was wearing maternity clothes most of the year and couldn't buy clothing lol. I'm going to keep this up in 2018.

Less credit card use/reduce debt.

Update: KILLED IT! I paid off ALL my credit card debt AND my student loans this year. I have managed to keep my credit cards paid off when I do need to use them (online purchases etc). I am super proud of myself for this one. 2018 - keep it up!Kinder parenting.

Update: This is the area I think I am hardest on myself. Now with three kids I am finding I need to be much kinder, not to my kids, but on myself. So in 2018 kinder parenting has a two-fold meaning for me, parent with love (even though I'm strict with my kiddos) and be kinder on myself.

New Goals:

Be a better leader - in 2017 I signed up to be a LipSense Distributor (you can visit me on Facebook if you're interested in more info). Mostly for a discount but it kinda morphed into more really quick. I'm loving this product and venture and it's been a really fun side-gig for me. Who doesn't want to play with makeup and hang with some amazing ladies. Surprisingly, I quickly grew a little team and would love to be a good leader to them in 2018.

Dream BIG! I've mentioned the negative self-talk earlier in this post and because of this negative self-talk, I've often told myself that I couldn't do the things that I want. That and I let outside sources (i.e. what people might think) dictate my actions and plans. Not cool. So my HUGE goal for 2018 is to really sit down and figure out who I am and what I want out of life and believe that I DESERVE it all. Because, why the heck not?!?!?!?!?

That's it!
What are your goals, intentions, resolutions etc for 2018? What would you like to see unfold? Link up your goal related posts with us (the Blended Blog) below!